Tag Archives: lignite

A bond rating agency downgraded Mississippi Power Co.’s debt to the lowest investment-grade level, saying the election of two new members of the state Public Service Commission “increases regulatory uncertainty.” Moody’s Investors Service cut the debt rating Thursday on the unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co., its second downgrade in two months. Another downgrade would push the utility’s debt into “junk” ...

KEMPER COUNTY — Southern Co. said yesterday that it will cost at least another $59 million to finish the power plant it’s building in eastern Mississippi’s Kemper County, pushing the total cost above $5.6 billion. The Atlanta-based parent of Mississippi Power Co. also announced that the work on the parts of the plant that will gasify lignite and extract chemicals ...

KEMPER COUNTY — Mississippi Power will convert from coal to natural gas or retire several units at plants in south Mississippi and Greene County, Alabama, as part of an agreement to end litigation over construction of a coal-fired power plant in Kemper County. The company and the Sierra Club announced yesterday that they are ending the litigation. “The Sierra Club ...

The question of who should foot the bill for a new and controversial power plant is on hold. Upcoming hearings on whether Mississippi Power Co. should be able to get customers to pay for its Kemper County power plant have been postponed. The Mississippi Public Service Commission yesterday delayed prudency hearings from May 19 until at least August. Those hearings ...

With global energy consumption poised to increase by 50 percent over the next 25 years, Mississippi can play a role in supplying that energy and manufacturing related products. The Mississippi Energy Institute, a non-profit, privately funded organization, is providing leadership to capitalize on these opportunities. The organization’s president, Patrick Sullivan, says the group’s core mission is developing a state energy ...

The Mississippi Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments Wednesday on the Sierra Club’s challenge to a $2.9 billion power plant in Kemper County. Mississippi Power Co., a unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co., wants to build the coal-fired plant, which would be powered by lignite mined nearby. The project was approved last year by the Mississippi Public Service Commission. The Sierra ...

KEMPER COUNTY — Once Mississippi Power Co.’s generating plant in Kemper County comes online, it will be supported by a large — and eventually, the largest — coal mining operation in the state. Mississippi Power president/CEO Ed Day says there is enough lignite coal in East Mississippi to keep the plant running for decades. Liberty Fuels Co., a subsidiary of ...

While the world has been championing natural gas as the savior of the energy crisis, Mississippi Power has insisted that gas prices will be high and volatile — reminiscent of 2009 — for years to come. The 2011 Energy Outlook from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects that natural gas prices will stay around $5 per million Btu through ...

By Amy McCullough GULFPORT – While lawyers prepared for the hearing upstairs, more than 20 Gulf Coast residents rallied in the lobby of the Harrison County Chancery Court on Feb. 14, as Mississippi Sierra Club director Louie Miller explained a lawsuit with a pair of flip flops. Miller held up a pair of the popular beach sandals with the names ...

The Energy Daily reports today that U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu hopes the Mississippi Public Service Commission and Southern Company can strike a compromise on a proposed $2.4 billion clean coal plant to be built in Kemper County. The Mississippi Commission voted April 29 to allow the plant to go forward if Mississippi Power Company (a division of Southern Company) ...